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Smilodon
'Smilodon '''was a genus of large predatory cat from North- and South America. A breeding pair and their offsprring are kept in Prehistoric Park. Appearance First things first: although Smilodon is referred to by most people as the saber-toothed tiger, this prehistoric mammal wasn't a true tiger at all, belonging instead to an ancient, long-extinct line of cat-like creatures known as "machairodonts" (a related genus, unsurprisingly, was Machairodus). Other than that, though, what you've heard is mostly true: Smilodon was a large, muscular predator that may well have snacked on deeras well as the Columbian Mammoths and Bison of the Pleistocene epoch. Behaviour As formidable as it was--and despite what you've seen in the popular media--Smilodon didn't hunt like a modern jaguar or puma. Like other saber-toothed cats (and "dirk-toothed" and "scimitar-toothed" cats as well), Smilodon would leap on its prey suddenly from the high branches of trees, digging its huge incisors into the unfortunate animal's neck and then withdrawing to a safe distance while its dinner bled to death. It's unknown whether Smilodon hunted in packs, though that would certainly have helped it to take down massive herbivores. Smilodon may even have scuffled with the Dire Wolf, Canis dirus. In Prehistoric Park Nigel goes in search of Smilodon for the park, being fascinated by big cats. He arrives in prehistoric South America, a few MYA. (Million years ago). His first glimpse of a Smilodon is when he sees a female stalking a Toxodon. The female kills the Toxodon and the whole pride feasts upon it. When the pride leaves, a Terror Bird emerges. Before it can start to eat, a lone male Smilodon attacks, but the Terror Bird esapes just in time. Nigel, determined to get the Terror Bird for the park, steals a piece of meat and ties it to the back of his truck. Enticed, the Terror Bird goes for the food. Nigel drives away, the meat bumping along behind and the Bird on his heels. He successfully gets him through the portal. After he catches the animal he plans his next trip to South America, this time when Smilodon was on its last legs. He is taking Saba Douglas- Hamilton with him, who is an expert on big cats. It's now 10,000 B.C. They find nothing for ages but Nigel had implanted a camera nearby. When Nigel inspects the footage, a young male appears, and he is delighted. But earlier Saba found a cub, and they will go to it to see if the mother has returned. They see the cub and mother - but the cub is very weak. In the distance they know there is the infured male, and decide to dart him first before darting the female and cub. They manage to dart and escape the male. They put him on the truck and head back. But when they come, it's too late. The cub has died, and the mother in poor condition. They take the trio back to the park, and the female is named Sabrina. She later gives birth. Diet Smilodon hunted large mammals like bison,horses,camel,mooses,Ice age deer,giant sloth, macrauchenia and mammoth Homotherium hunts young mastodon and mammoth in the miocene to Pleistocene in south Canada. Arctodus hunts deer,horses and buffalo (but it gets scared away by mammoths) in southwest Canada. The American lion hunts lots of elephant species (except mammoths in North America) in Midwest. Big Cat Climb ''Main article: Big Cat Climb. The Smilodon enclosure is surrounded on all sides with tall wooden fences, as Smilodon, like most cats, appear to be excellent climbers. The terrain is open grass with little foliage. Trivia *In case you're wondering why Smilodon has appeared in so many movies, that may be because thousands of intact Smilodon skeletons have been extracted from the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, a stone's throw from Hollywood (the California variant of this genus, Smilodon californicus, is the official state fossil). *Although Smilodon is by far the most famous saber-toothed cat, it wasn't the only member of its fearsome breed: this family included over a dozen other genera, including Barbourofelis, Homotherium and Megantereon. Further complicating matters, paleontologists have also described "false" saber-toothed and "dirk-toothed" cats. *No one would be much interested in the Saber-Tooth 'Tiger' if it were just an unusually big cat. What has made this megafauna mammal so fascinating to generations of schoolkids is its huge, curving canines, which measured close to 12 inches in the largest Smilodon species. Oddly enough, though, these monstrous teeth were surprisingly brittle and easily broken. *Despite their imposing bulk, Saber-Tooth 'Tigers' (even hunting in packs) wouldn't have been capable of taking down full-grown Woolly Mammoths. Just like modern tigers, Smilodon scored most of its meals by picking off the smaller, slower juveniles of large, herbivorous mammals; likely candidates included the Giant Sloth and various prehistoric horses. Category:Pleistocene Category:Animals From The Ice Age Category:Carnivores Category:Mammals Category:Animals Category:Predators Category:Animals In Park Category:Animals With Babies Category:Smilodon